FEDMA reacts to European Commission’s announcement on new cookie pledges

As part of yesterday’s European Consumer Summit, the European Commission announced a new voluntary initiative to tackle growing concerns among online users towards cookie banners and the data collection practices behind this business model.

Under the responsibility of the Consumer Enforcement & Redress Unit in DG JUST, the cookie pledge will aim to (i) simplify the way consumers/data subjects express their preferences on the use of cookies across websites and (ii) provide more meaningful and user-friendly information to online users before asking for consent, and (iii) enable personalised content without tracking.

As FEDMA represents marketers across all channels, cookies also constitute a significant component in the data and marketing industry to serve relevant ads and measure their effectiveness. Cookies have become an essential part of any online user’s experience, often the steppingstone of a dialogue between consumers and marketers online.

Though the phase-out of third-party cookies will likely downsize cookies as a tool to collect data across the web, their use for first-party data may even become more important.  In this context, FEDMA believes that the European Commission’s initiative could be a game-changer in the online consumer experience as well as in the power relations between the various actors in the cookie value chain.

Reflecting FEDMA’s mission to defend a thriving environment for marketers powered by user’s trust, we call on the Commission to:

• ensure the consistency and proportionality of the cookie pledges with existing data protection & privacy legislation.
• clarify the relationship between this initiative and the provisions in the proposal for an EU ePrivacy Regulation related to the use of cookies.
• consider the current power imbalances between gatekeeper platforms, their business users, and competitors in the online advertising ecosystem.
• involve all stakeholders in the advertising value chain in the preparatory work for the cookie pledges.